Free trade of beer in Canada is at the top of Foothills MP John Barlow’s list of priorities in his new role on Parliament Hill.
Barlow was appointed Conservative critic of interprovincial trade earlier this month.
He said he will investigate trade barriers obstructing the economic growth of the country, specifically focusing on laws that impact small businesses like brewers, distillers and wineries, he said.
“They’re having more success marketing their products globally than they are from one province to another,” said Barlow. “This is really inhibiting growth in some of these industries.”
He said he’ll be working on the Conservatives’ “Free the Beer” campaign, which was first launched in the spring as previous interprovincial trade critic Dan Albas brought forward a motion to strike down barriers between provinces.
The motion came on the heels of a decision by Judge Ronald LeBlanc throwing out all charges against Gerard Comeau for bringing in 14 cases of beer and three bottles of liquor to New Brunswick from a Quebec border town. Albas called on the federal government to recognize Canadians have the constitutional right to trade with fellow Canadians. The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois voted against the motion and it was defeated 184 to 131.
Barlow said he wants to pick up the torch again.
“We see the blossoming of the craft brewery industry in Canada, but what’s really holding that back from being successful is the ability of those companies to market their products from one province to another because of trade obstacles that provinces are putting up,” he said.
Current liquor laws are the sole responsibility of each province, but Barlow said he wants to see the federal government step in and up hold the constitution, which states there should be fair trade amongst the provinces.
The Province of Alberta is under fire for changes to its policies regarding the brewery industry.
Changes to the markup charges to brewers made in 2015 would have seen lower markups for small breweries in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan. The move lead Ontario-based brewery Steam Whistle to sue the Alberta government for acting against the Constitution’s free trade provisions.
In response, the Alberta government announced in August it would return to a universal markup system to avoid allegations of discrimination. At the same time, the government said it would provide grants to small Alberta brewers to encourage growth – an act that saw Saskatoon-based Great Western Brewing file a court challenge of its own.
Barlow said the protectionist measures put in place by provinces to protect businesses are harming the Canadian economy as a whole by preventing growth.
According to the Conference Board of Canada, preventing free trade is costing the economy about $15 billion per year, he said.
“It would also mean an additional 780,000 jobs across the country and 78,000 in BC and Alberta alone if we were able to eliminate some of these barriers,” said Barlow. “When we’re talking about a recession in Alberta where every job counts, if we could just eliminate some of these trade barrier it could have a pretty profound impact.”
He said he hopes the Free the Beer campaign will help raise awareness of the interprovincial trade barriers, because many Canadians are unaware of the size of the issue.
Government should not be able to tell businesses where they can or cannot trade, he said.
“Really this is all about one Canada, one country and one national economy, and we should be able to promote the success of our Canadian companies,” said Barlow. “Why should they have to try to go overseas or to the United States to try to grow their business? They should be able to do it right here at home.”
Luke Wooldridge, owner of Six Corner Brew Works in Okotoks, said barriers make it difficult to expand beyond Alberta, and some provinces are so restrictive he doesn’t even bother to try.
“In a lot of cases you know what the policies are like, so you don’t even feel up to the challenge of tackling it,” said Wooldridge. “There’s a lot of different ways they put up barriers – it might be tax levels, it might be market access, it might be distribution policies. There’s a lot of inhibitions to free trade, for sure.”
He said he hopes the federal government is able to help with the situation, though tackling interprovincial trade in the brewery industry is a daunting task, he said.
The liquor industry drives a lot of provincial revenue, so provinces tend to favour their own producers and may not be unanimous in adopting a national policy, he said.
“I think it’s going to be a big challenge but I think it would be good for all craft breweries to have an even playing field across the country,” said Wooldridge.